Patent GB-918253-A (GB)
Title: Vertical collating machine
IPC: B65H39/042
Filed: 1960-06-20
Abstract: 918,253. Collating sheets. MESTRE, L. June 20, 1960, No. 21572/60. Class 100 (1). A sheet collating machine comprises a frame 20, storage means 75 having a plurality of spaced partitions 76 forming sheet-receiving pockets mounted for vertical movement on the frame, an endless conveyer 29 having a part adjacent to the storage means, a pair of pressure rollers 37 which press sheets into engagement with the conveyer, a sheet ejector 127 mounted in each pocket for movement towards and away from the conveyer and into and out of contact with a pile of sheets S in the pocket, and ejector operating means carried by the frame on the opposite side of the storage means to the conveyer and which moves the ejectors towards and away from the conveyer when the corresponding pockets are adjacent to the conveyer. The conveyer 29 comprises a number of spaced, parallel tapes which pass round a roller 30 near a receiving platform 27 and a roller 32 near the storage means 75. The storage means is guided for vertical movement in tracks 77 carried by the frame 20 and is reciprocated by means of racks 87 carried by the storage means and gears 88. The gears 88 are driven through a reversing device by a motor 21, which also drives the conveyer 29, the drive to the gears 88 being automatically reversed each time the storage means reaches the end of an upward or a downward movement by the engagement of projections carried by the storage means with the reversing device. The reversing device provides for a relatively slow downward movement of the storage means while sheets are being ejected therefrom and a relatively fast, idle upward movement. The storage means is biased upwards by means of a spring 79 through a cord 81 and pulleys 80, 82. As each pocket of the storage means comes abreast of the conveyer roller 32 on the downward movement of the storage means a sheet is projected part-way therefrom. The pressure rollers 37 are reciprocated horizontally over the conveyer a distance of 1¢ to 2 inches and are moving towards the storage means as a sheet projecting from a pocket thereof touches the conveyer. The sheet is gripped between the conveyer and the rollers 37, is fully extracted from its pocket by the movement of the conveyer and is finally deposited on the platform 27. The shaft carrying the rollers 37 is mounted in arms 38 pivotally secured to levers 40. The levers 40 are pivoted to the frame 20 at 41 and are spring urged towards the storage means. A cam bar 53 having a high and a low portion for each pocket of the storage means is secured in a vertically adjustable manner to the storage means and engages a cam follower carried by a link 46 which is pivoted to one of the levers 40; the rollers 37 thus complete one cycle of backward and forward movement for each pocket of the storage means. The roller mechanism is automatically locked in its position remote from the storage means when the latter is making its upward movement. In a modification the rollers 37 are reciprocated by means of a rotary cam driven by the motor 21. Sheet separators.-The sheets S are located in their pockets by adjustable end and side abutments 161, 163, Fig. 6. A housing 121, Fig. 8, for the ejector is mounted on the underside of each partition 76 and a carriage 123 is slidably mounted in each housing by means of pin and slot connections. The ejector 127 is a rubber or like roller non-rotatably secured to an arm 128 pivotally mounted at 129 in the carriage 123. A spring 131 biases the carriage to the right as shown in Fig. 7, so as to bring a cam follower 134 carried by the end thereof into engagement with a cam 151, Figs. 1, 6, mounted on the frame 20. A retractor 139 is slidably mounted by means of pin and slot connections on the underside of the carriage 123, has a lip 144 at one end which engages the arm 128 and carries a cam follower 145 at the other end. When the retractor is in the Fig. 7 position it holds the ejector out of engagement with the pile of sheets as shown in the topmost pocket of Fig. 6. As the storage means moves down the follower 145 is engaged by a cam plate 150 pivoted to the cam 151 and the retractor 139 is thereby moved to the left (Fig. 6) to allow the arm 128 to fall until the ejector 127 engages the top sheet. As the mouth of the pocket approaches the conveyer 29 the cam 151 urges the follower 134 and hence the ejector to the right so as partially to eject a sheet between the conveyer and the rollers 37. At the end of the ejector's movement in this direction the retractor is urged to the right by a cam 154 also secured to the cam 151 and the ejector is thereby lifted away from the pile of sheets again. The ejector retains this position until it passes the conveyer again on the downward movement of the storage means. The retractor 139 may be latched in retracting position when sheets are not to be fed from the corresponding pocket; when this is done a cam carried by the latching means opens at the appropriate time a switch in the circuit of a sheet detecting device so as to render the latter inoperative. Faulty feed detectors.-The sheet detector comprises a feeler 192, Fig. 11, mounted above a table 29a which underlies the upper run of the conveyer 29. When a sheet is missing from the conveyer the feeler falls through a gap in the table and actuates a switch 193 which stops the machine. If one of the pockets contains exceptionally thick or cover sheets the latching means for the retractor 139 is moved to a third position (other than the engaged and normally disengaged positions) so that the cam carried thereby at the appropriate time opens a switch in the circuit of a sheet gauging device 284, Fig. 11, thus rendering the latter inoperative. When the device 284 is operative it detects the presence of an unusually thick sheet or two sheets superimposed one upon the other and stops the machine. Sheet receivers; delivering in counted batches.- The receiving platform 27 may be replaced by a platform 212, Fig. 15, mounted for limited angular movement about a pivot 213. The platform effects a pivotal movement after the sheets of one complete book have been collated thereon so that the sheets of the next book are staggered in relation thereto. The oscillation is effected by a cam 217 mounted on a shaft 90 which forms part of the drive for the storage means 75. The cam 217 actuates a pivoted lever 220 carrying a cam follower 222 and connected by means of a linkage to the platform 212. The cam follower 222 is normally held out of contact with the cam 217 by a latch lever 229 controlled by a solenoid 234. When the solenoid is actuated the latch lever allows the follower 222 to engage the cam and the position of the platform 212 is changed. A switch in the circuit of the solenoid can be closed by any one of a number of buttons carried by a bar mounted on the storage means. Each pocket has a corresponding button which is mounted in a slot in the bar and which can be moved along the slot into a position in which it closes the solenoid switch as the storage means moves downwards. Thus the position of the platform 212 can be altered at any point in the downward movement of the storage means depending upon the number of pages in the books to be collated.